Purported pics of Nokia "N97 Mini" surface; looks like… a smaller N97

A little over a month ago, a fearless (or stupid) Vodafone forum moderator got excited and blabbed about two unannounced handsets that would eventually be making their way to Voda — the BlackBerry Storm 2 and the Nokia N97 Mini. The former has been seen grazing in the wild many times already but the latter has managed to elude the digirazzi… Until now, that is. Behold, the Nokia N97 Mini. Maybe. While the authenticity of these first live N97 Mini shots has yet to be confirmed, they do depict what we would imagine the handset to be — a smaller N97. Of note, the phone pictured has a cluster of four arrow keys at the right end of the keypad in place of the d-pad found on the left of the N97. Also, for those who enjoy dropping a space between words with their left thumb from time to time, the space bar is still off to the right of the pad (though slightly closer to the center this time) and it’s still tiny. Whether or not this turns out to be the actual device, we can only hope the N97 Mini hits the US with a slightly more realistic price tag since the odds of a carrier snagging it aren’t great. Hit the jump for a shot of the back.

Its problably gonna be cheaper, like the article is hoping. I thought voda was gsm, & their getting the storm2?

Bit

Oooh am I seeing a metal back, a la Eseries?

Boba Fat

Mini Me…you complete me.

Engamized

Yes you are !

Dans

Last i heard, Vodafone was getting this one in.

https://www.getdropbox.com/referrals/NTgyNjE5OQ JT

Like my friend aptly coined, a smaller turd remains a turd.

Jason Bourne

They must be smoking that good out in Finland.

Didn’t they not see the dismal profits that these type of stupid business moves lead to?

The N97 hasn’t even been a blip in the markets that they need to work on…so they decide to make it smaller and go continue their profit shrinking ways.

Great job Nokia!

Glad I sold my share in ’07.

StevenGlansburg

Storm 2 is coming to att as well

Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone) at: Cincinnati United States

http://www.symbian-freak.com christexaport

@ Jason Bourne,
WOW! Pretty extreme, don’t you think? From what I see, Nokia continues to make profits because of its diverse portfolio of models in various form factors and price points. This will be in between the 5800 XM and E71 in price point, in a form factor that’s proving to be the most wanted in the growing US market and Western Europe, and it looks to have a Carl Zeiss lens to boot.

It won’t have the pretty transitions of the iPhone, and won’t have the sexy buzz in the US of Android OS, but that’s a good thing. Half the consumers in the world prefer Symbian OS to Android, WinMo, WebOS, and OSX Mobile. Its still the one with the most functions and features, the most open OS, the most in depth API’s, the most developer support, most advanced browser, best software choice, and most stable and productive platform.

It needs some UI help, which will come in 18 months with a new UI and scrapping of the S60 UI layer. Symbian users are mostly aware of this, and would rather be patient and wait than change their entire way of working. The alternatives all have holes in functionality, hardware access, and app choice. Apple won’t let users use the devices as they wish. RIM is just now catching up to Nokia’s 2007 functionality. WebOS is limited by its CSS/HTML code base. WinMo’s UI is entirely too deep. So this tics the box of most of the smartphone world.

We should begin to realize that despite the buzz American bloggers and consumers bestow upon the iPhones, Blackberries, and Palm devices, those devices only account for about 25-30% of all smartphones COMBINED, compared to 50% of all smartphones powered by Symbian, and 77% of those are Nokias.

I am American, but I noticed 5 years ago how immature our mobile market was, and how our consumers use devices, as appliances to supplement our PC usage versus as the be all end all, primary contact to connectivity for the rest of the world. Most folks in the world will remain brand loyal because it does more than any other OS, however unusually. We aren’t using Symbian OS as much, but its been a major factor for 10 years and the global standard for almost 5. Users will await the expected glorious UI remake coming soon because its perfectly familiar and not so hard to use for those long time users, since its only hampering for those unwilling to read or use menu buttons. We can put up with more of the same as long as we keep all of that great functionality.

@christexaport YDM!
You have very well said what I have been trying to think of forever. I personally have an iPhone 3gs and a Nokia N97, granted I swap in between. I think productivity wise I like the N97 better than the iPhone. iPhone does a great job at showing off and draining the battery in 3 hrs with my use. Which makes it a pointless mobile device. If all the American Bloggers/Consumers can brag about Nokia’s Symbian OS and for God’s sake leave they keyboard alone the space bar is so much better.
I think its about time that we start complaining about the battery life we get out of iPhone 3gs. All the iPhone lovers who claim they get about 6hrs from theirs think before you type this. Do you have everything turned on as in GPS, find my iphone, atleast 50% brightness, oh yeah 3g data [i dont see a point of having a iPhone 3g/s if you going to turn this off for battery seriously get the first gen iPhone].

American consumers may be immature but they spend a lot of money. I have been a Nokia fan boy for a decade now but their touchscreen effort have been lackluster IMO, especially coming from a company that has always been so far ahead of the mobile curve.

If HTC, LG and Samsung can do it there is no reason Nokia can’t. Crap like the 5130 Xpress just ain’t cutting it and the N97 is a step backwards compared to the N95.

John M

Being more open doesn’t mean jack to any but the most hardcore tech users. Hardly anyone develops apps for Nokia because of the wide range of models they develop and their lack of commitment on supposedly flagship devices. The N97 “mini” will be as big a flop as the N97.

ThisGuy

@ Jason Bourne
Even though Nokia’s profits dropped, they are still making more money than any other manufacturer. Bottom line is they are making a profit! Only a few other companies can say that.

http://www.symbian-freak.com christexaport

@ Jason Bourne,
for every US dollar spent on mobile technology and protable devices IN THE WORLD, Nokia makes about $0.58-$0.62. That’s amazing! Besides Apple, everyone’s profits are down year over year. And Apple’s seem significant until you realize it only accounts for a small percentage of the big piece of the pie.

Apple only sells premium priced models, and in America, it is heavily subsidized, which puts pricing pressures on its unsubsidized competition. Nokia sells devices from $200 all the way up to $1500, with a model to suit almost anyone’s needs. Apple has no chance in developing countries where financial demographics are a fraction of the American average. And when these people do attain financial flexibility, they usually stay loyal to the OS and brand they’re used to, and have a big problem giving up the features they’ve grown dependent upon.
The American consumer is immature as far as mobile technology. But we learn fast, and have the evolved models of the European and Asian markets as well as the African developing markets to learn from. American mobile has been following these trends, albeit at a later and slower pace which has just recently heated up. The UX hasn’t played much of a factor for Symbian users because apps like JBak Taskman and Tracker created a faster and more productive UIs for most of the device, and not many users user the basic UI to open and close apps anyway. Apple’s new entry was designed to focus on UI before function. Symbian did this long ago before technology was available to do what’s done today, but they’ve been working on a new UI for quite some time, and it will most likely be amazing.
Nokia doesn’t need on uber model to set sales records in order to survive, as its shown. The fact it happened with the N95 was just a bonus. Nokia dominates with a versatile portfolio of devices and an agile production system that allows them to sell almost half the phones in the world. It hasn’t invested much into the current generation of devices because the new UI comes out in 18 months, and that, along with Maemo5, will be the icing on the cake that sets the table for another Nokia marketshare grab like 2006-2007. Apple and RIM don’t have the production capacity or amount of models in development to come close to Nokia’s agility. You have to take things like that into consideration before you apply a knee jerk analysis of a company.

Jt

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I am no iPhone fanboy, but don’t let nokia fanboyism cloud your judgement either.
The bigger point is: with all the money Nokia is making, its ‘agility’ (sic), is the N97 the best they can do?
To many people that speaks volume about a company that has issues to innovate and whose gigantic size rather seems like an innovation drain than a competitive advantage.
Now if the N97 fits the bill for you I say kudos. But realise It is not only about volume or absolute profits (think of $ per handset for a second)

http://www.symbian-freak.com christexaport

I find it funny that Apple fanboys have been begging for either a keyboard or a smaller, cheaper model, ala iPhone Nano, yet Nokia does it, and its unnecessary and a big fail. Its also funny that the N97 is considered a flop. Nokia isn’t a one model show. Nokia doesn’t NEED the N97 to sell well at all. It challenges the market from various perspectives others cant provide.

Being open isn’t only for super geeks, either. Go to the mature markets where they prefer mobiles to desktops, and find out before you spout off foolish ideals. This is typical American snobbery, thinking their usage model is typical. We’re behind by about 5 years from the rest of the world. Ask Android.

Hardly anyone develops for Symbian?! Afre you that naive? Its the biggest developer community for the largest install base period. There are few apps for any other platform that doesn’t have an equivalent and even a few alternatives for Symbian. And you’ll come to find those apps are more useful than novel, a big issue for Apple. Also, the wide range of models is an advantage for many. There is little difference between models. You don’t need special apps for each model. Its just some run a new OS. Open sourcing will make them even more easy to develope for.

With the great new browser, apps don’t have to focus on filling the gaps the web left. There’s no need for a YouTube app, but there is if you like. Facebook and MySPace look just like the pages on a desktop. You can stream music from the browser. You can browse the file system. Its more of a mini PC, not a desktop dependent companion. It eliminates the need for a PC.

Nokia has no real competitor except LG and Samsung, two other Symbian manufacturers. Wonder why all the big players signed up for the Symbian Foundation, and they’re developing devices around the top OS? Because they’re no fools. America is too much of a neophyte to be a major factor yet. Maybe in 2 or 3 years.

http://www.symbian-freak.com christexaport

besides multitouch, what innovations haven’t been made by Nokia?

http://www.payasyougomobilephones.mobi payasyougo mobile phones

Although the iPhone3G S is a very smart phone, it not intelligent enough to compete against the Nokia N97 Mini.

The Nokia N97 mini is like having a mini super computer on your pocket. The features of the Nokia N97 Mini are very impressive compared to the iPhone.